Style March 2015: Reykjavík designer Unnur Valdís Kristjánsdóttir has developed a set of floatation products to keep users’ bodies just below the surface of the water although soaking in the country’s sizzling springs .
The designs by Unnur Valdís Kristjánsdóttir include a swimming cap that fits closely all around the head and a series of wide straps that can be wrapped all around limbs in numerous configurations. Collectively called Float, the products are produced from moulded polyethylene foam – a buoyant material that has been covered with neoprene and lycra fabric.
Kristjánsdóttir presented the project in an installation known as Overlap at a Reykjavik swimming pool during the DesignMarch festival earlier this month. Bathers floated in the pool towards a backdrop of brightly coloured projections developed by Berlin-primarily based graphic designer Siggi Eggertsson, and wore suits with mottled patterns by Icelandic designer Eygló Ms Lárusdóttir. Ambient music was played to create a tranquil ambiance.
Utilizing a mixture of material bodyweight and placement, the floats are designed to hold the physique nearly entirely submerged in the water to make certain users remain warm in Iceland’s thermal baths, which are filled with volcanically heated water.
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The geothermal pools are supplied by water from under the earth’s crust that is heated to roughly 38 degrees Celsius – just above human entire body temperature.
Overlap set up at DesignMarch 2015
“The notion of Float has often been within me, becoming an Icelander and expanding up and living with abundance of water and geothermal power,” Kristjánsdóttir told Dezeen. “There is no place that can make me feel much better than the water, for me the water is a magical healing supply.”
Overlap installation at DesignMarch 2015
“Float is a offspring from Iceland’s bathing culture and manufactured to add a new dimension to the water knowledge, a single of rest and complete bliss,” she additional.
Overlap installation at DesignMarch 2015
Kristjánsdóttir claims that floating helps to promote a state of calm the two physically and mentally by lowering muscle tension, blood pressure and heart price, as properly as slowing the frequency of brainwaves to a state usually attained throughout hypnosis and sleep.
Overlap set up at DesignMarch 2015
“Floating also has a fantastic result on the mind as the deeply soothing activity sets the brain to a theta state, which is a deep and healing state, generally accomplished in deep meditation,” said the designer.
The project came about when Kristjánsdóttir noticed that comparable products lifted the physique over the surface of the water, which means end users had been missing out on the feeling of currently being “wrapped in water.”
Kristjánsdóttir hosts monthly “float gatherings” at public pools across Reykjavik and has lately expanded the undertaking to pools outside the capital, making it possible for customers to take pleasure in views of the northern lights even though floating in Iceland’s naturally heated outside baths.
“Individuals love it, and we have a wide range of people coming to do it, households, couples and people interested in rest and meditation or just simply wanting to get rid of hazardous stress and encounter a soothing and soothing expertise,” she mentioned.
